"A lucid and masterly sketch of the slow development of the modern Russian State between the year 1697 and 1740."--_Daily News._ "Mr. Nisbet Bain is, without question, the best informed student of Northern history who now writes for the British Public, and the volume before us will add to his reputation."--_Manchester Courier._ WESTMINSTER Archibald Constable and Co. 2 WHITEHALL GARDENS 1898 ANNOUNCEMENTS The Life of Sir Charles Tilston Bright By EDWARD BRAILSTON BRIGHT, C.E., and CHARLES BRIGHT, C.E., F.R.S.E. With many Illustrations, Portraits, and Maps. 2 vols. _Demy 8vo, £3 3s. net._ (_£2 2s. net to subscribers before publication._) Debateable Claims A Series of Essays on Secondary Education By JOHN CHARLES TARVER, AUTHOR OF "SOME OBSERVATIONS OF A FOSTER PARENT." _Crown 8vo, 6s._ Dante's Ten Heavens A Study in the Paradiso By EDMUND GARDNER. _Demy 8vo._ A French View of English Contemporary Art By E. DE LA SIZERANNE. Translated by H. M. POYNTER. _Crown 8vo._ Highland Dress and Ornament By LORD ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL. _Demy 8vo._ Andrée and his Balloon By HENRI LACHAMBRE and ALEXIS MACHURON With coloured Frontispiece and 40 full-page plates. _Crown 8vo. 6s._ This volume contains an accurate account of the making and equipping of Mr. Andrée's balloon, and a detailed account of the first attempt made in 1896, when, owing to the bad weather, Andrée and his two companions could not start, and a detailed and authoritative account of the final preparation and start for the famous flight into the Unknown. The volume is fully illustrated, and contains a short biography of Andrée. The two authors accompanied the Expedition to Spitzbergen, the one author in 1896, and the other in July, 1897. The volume is of very great general interest, containing as it does the only authoritative account of the expedition up to date, and is of special value to all interested in ballooning, as the authors are acknowledged experts. This work is being published simultaneously in four different languages. The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe By ERNEST YOUNG. Fully Illustrated by E. A. NORBURY, R.C.A., and from Photographs. _Demy 8vo._ Constable's "Hand Gazetteer of India" Uniform with Constable's "Hand Atlas of India." A BOOK OF Travels and Life in Ashantee By R. AUSTIN FREEMAN, F.R.G.S. Fully Illustrated, from drawings by the Author, and from Photographs. 2 Maps. _Demy 8vo._ A Northern Highway of the Czar By AUBYN TREVOR BATTYE, Author of "Ice-bound on Kolguev." _Illustrated. Crown 8vo. 6s._ The dedication of this volume has been graciously accepted by His Majesty the Czar of Russia. Our Troubles in Poona and the Deccan By ARTHUR TRAVERS CRAWFORD, C.M.G., late Commissioner of Poona. _Fully Illustrated. Demy 8vo, 14s._